I will FIGHT for you. I will FIGHT for your relationship with Jesus Christ. This is preeminent. And of course, I will FIGHT for our children.
I’m not a perfect man. In fact, I’m not even close. But I will do my very best. I will seek God’s direction. I will listen to your input. I value you as a partner-in-crime (good crime). But even if I do all this I know I will still make mistakes. You’ll see that I preach a better message than I live. But hopefully as I continue to mature in Christ that gap will shrink.
I understand what it means to “forsake all others” as a vow. What it means is that aside from God, you are #1. I will never put you above God. To put you above God is a disservice to you. A man can only be as strong as his God is in his life. That means I will avoid having any opposite sex relationships that may compromise me. That means I take the precautions not to be in those situations in the first place. I would never want to lose your trust as I value the opportunity of your trust so much.
With God being my witness, I will do my utter best to love you as Christ loved the church. Once again, I know I’m going to fall short of that standard, but I will give it my all.
When I say that I will FIGHT for your relationship with Jesus Christ, I’m also FIGHTing for my relationship with Jesus Christ. How can I encourage and lift you up if I’m not in sync with God myself? What this means is that whatever God asks of me I will oblige. So if God says, “Pack up your bags and take your family to China and serve there” I will not try to bargain with God and say, “How about I donate some extra money to your favorite charity instead?” What this means is that there are risks that I will take and lead you and our kids to take, if God so asks. This may make you feel uncomfortable at times, but I cannot compromise on this because one day I will have to give an account for how I led my wife and kids.
I seek to understand everything about you and know you in every way. What makes you smile. What makes you laugh. What makes you cry. What makes you stressed. What your dreams are. What your fears are. What you like. What you dislike. I seek to be a pillar you can lean on and a pillow you can put your head on.
I seek to help you blossom in the gifts, talents, and opportunities that God has given to you. So that when you meet Him one day, you would be the person who got 5 talents, but produced 10, instead of zero. I have no desire to compete with you as God judges each person according to his/her hand (of cards). If I had a card or two that will give you a royal flush I’ll be happy to give them to you.
I will not hesitate to exercise my protective leadership if I feel like there’s a decision you’re considering that might harm or set you back. Let’s say you want to start a business with somebody and I think that person is really shady I will not hesitate to give you a head’s up. Or if you’re thinking about vaccinating the baby I’m going to interfere with that. I don’t care about most things (i.e. What’s for lunch, color of the carpet, used or new car). But there are a few areas where I will ask that you defer to me on.
I seek to provide to the best of my ability, a home that is optimized for the raising of kids and to extend hospitality to others. This home will be a place where relationships with neighbors, friends, friend’s friends, people who don’t yet know God, will come to and not want to leave, where they will know that there is something special at our home. It is a place where God reigns. It will be a home, a family, a unit, a team, where together we say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
I will never put you in any compromising situation where the honor of God is chanced. I will never ask you to do anything against God’s word.
When we do have disagreements I will seek to understand your point-of-view and hear where you’re coming from. I will not do anything that I don’t believe would be in your best interest.
I will honor your parents, your family as my own. I will do my best to provide for them and their needs as needed.
I will pray with you each day. Together we intercede and ask God for his leadership in our lives.
I will FIGHT for our children and be attentive to each of their needs and provide every resource to bring out their potential. I will, with your help, teach and train the ways of the LORD so that they would honor God all of their days. Don’t worry, not one of them will be a prodigal child. (Ain’t happening on my watch.) I will discipline them if they are ever disrespectful, especially to you. I understand that children are a blessing from the LORD and that we are simply stewards of what God has given. I will not set them on a path in life or career of my choosing (i.e. “You better become a Supreme Court justice so I brag about you.”), but rather what God may have in store for them, which… coincidentally happens to be becoming a Supreme Court justice (Just kidding!).
I will care for you in sickness and in health (obviously, if you’re in health, you’re fine).
All this I promise until death do us part. So help me God (I have to include this because that’s what all the sworn presidents say and it sounds kinda cool).